


God Save the Queen

by starstruck_moon



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Bring Back Queen Angella, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck_moon/pseuds/starstruck_moon
Summary: Queen Angella never actually died - she just got trapped in a portal. What if there was a way to rescue her?One-shot, Catra POV. Pure fluff.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Angella & Catra (She-Ra), Glimmer & Micah & Angella (She-Ra)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 87





	God Save the Queen

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished watching She-Ra and I. literally. LOVE. IT.  
> If you liked this, please leave kudos/comments!   
> Hope you enjoy it!

It had been almost a month since She-ra defeated Prime and peace was returned to Etheria. The princesses had mostly all returned to their kingdoms while the Best Friend Squad stayed in Glimmer’s palace. 

Catra was still settling in. It was weird to not be training for combat or scheming and plotting the next battle. She felt guilt and shame still heavy on her shoulders, and although the other princesses were being extremely welcoming, she still felt slightly like an outsider. This was changing, though, as she got to know them better. She was also trying to be a better person, which included keeping her temper in check and bringing sarcastic comments to a minimum.

It was also weird, after being used to the harsh conditions of the Horde, to transfer to such a luxurious palace, but Adora said that she had the same experience and she’d get used to it. There was her room, which was almost triple the size of her quarters in the Horde, with her own bathroom and a waterfall, for some reason. She mostly slept at the foot of Adora’s bed, though, just like they did in the Horde. There was the food - so many different varieties - from tiny delicate pastries (mostly for Entrapta) to fruits from all over Etheria. There were vast gardens full of plants and flowers with names she didn’t know. She and Adora went for walks, hand in hand, while Adora pointed out and named them. She didn’t always pay attention, focused on her girlfriend’s voice washing over her and the warm feel of their hands perfectly intertwined.

There were sleepovers with Bow and Glimmer and Adora, and sometimes Scorpia and Entrapta who were still at Bright Moon. They gossiped and painted their nails and ‘stole’ food from the kitchen (there was no one telling them not to, so it wasn’t exactly stealing, but it was fun to creep in there at midnight). They told stories and joked together. Catra found herself genuinely liking and trusting the others more and more, feeling more at peace than she had ever done. There were parties and celebratory dinners, hosted by towns and villages that hailed She-ra and the Rebellion as saviours of Etheria. Catra found that she was really rather good at dancing, much better than Adora who for all her grace on the battlefield as She-ra stumbled over the simplest steps, laughing the whole time. 

***

It was a quiet morning when Catra found herself, wandering around the castle alone (Adora was still asleep), in front of the statue of Queen Angella. The sculpture was a little larger than life-size, coated with silver and studded with precious stones. It was beautiful and from what Catra knew, a good likeness of the old queen. She was smiling gently, facing her distant Runestone that was now solely Glimmer’s. 

‘Morning, Catra’

Catra turned to see Glimmer standing behind her. She hadn’t noticed her approach. Finding her voice, Catra smiled back.

‘Hi Glimmer’

‘Hey Catra! I come here every day, you know. Just - visiting Mum’

‘What was she like?’ asked Catra. In the Horde, she’d been told that the queen had been half witted and pathetic. 

‘She was kind of my role model, I guess. She always found time to be my mother as well as the queen. I know that sometimes parents who have important jobs can neglect their kids, but Mum made sure that we spent time together. She made me the commander when I turned sixteen - she trusted me. I miss her so much’

Catra felt waves of guilt roll back, despite the lack of any accusation in Glimmer’s tone. ‘She sounded really nice’, she replied lamely.

They stood in respectful silence for a few minutes until a messenger summoned Glimmer and she teleported away with a wave. Feeling troubled, Catra sauntered back inside for breakfast, where Adora was lazily helping herself to some bacon, Melog curled around her. As she approached them, Melog jumped off and retreated under the table, hissing.

Adora frowned at her. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine’ Catra responded roughly. She took a deep breath. ‘Sorry. I just saw the statue of Queen Angella. It just reminded me - I hurt so many people, how can everyone just be okay with that?’

Adora put an arm gently around her. ‘You saved us all, that’s why. You saved Glimmer in Prime’s ship and you saved me at the Heart. I don’t think I would have survived it because of Prime’s virus, but you - you made me carry on’. She sighed. ‘Yes, you hurt people, but that was in the past. You’ve moved on - you’re a different person. You need to forgive yourself.’

Catra relaxed into her side. ‘I guess…’

‘Hey, have you tried this jam? Mermista sent it with Sea Hawk yesterday and it’s soo good!’

Melog leapt back next to Adora and purred. Catra grinned.

‘Have I told you that you’re an idiot?’

They ate together in comfortable silence until Bow and Glimmer entered some time later. 

‘Hi guys!’ called Bow, sitting down opposite them. ‘I’m visiting my dads today. You wanna come? Catra, you haven’t met them yet, have you? Oh, they’ll love you, just sneeze a few times.’

Catra glared at him. Adora laughed. ‘Sure, why not? Catra?’

‘Okay, sure, whatever. Just hope they’re not like you’

Glimmer giggled. ‘Sorry Bow, I can’t make it today. Frosta wanted my help with something. You know, ruler stuff. I’ll come next time though, for sure.’

***

They left soon after breakfast. Glimmer teleported them there, waved a quick hello to Lance and George, and disappeared again in a cloud of sparkles. 

Bow’s dads were really nice. They loaded the three of them with snacks and enthusiastically asked Catra about herself. Then Lance launched into a recount of some First Ones books they’d discovered near the Fright Zone, which was currently abandoned, soon to be renovated, while George watched his husband with a fond smile, occasionally adding his comments. Catra found herself barely listening, feeling sleepy in the calm atmosphere of the library.

‘... but the best ones we found look to be really old. There was one that we think was on agriculture, from the looks of the drawings on the front, and there were also three on portals -’

‘Portals?’ asked Catra quickly, ears pricking up. Melog straightened up and looked alert.

‘Yeah, apparently there are two kinds. We have some books on them in Etherian, but these First Ones books could lead to huge breakthroughs if only we could translate them…’

Adora glanced at Catra. ‘I could do that for you’, she said slowly.

Lance gazed at her. ‘You would do that? That would be absolutely incredible! We could learn so much!’

Adora grinned back at him. ‘It’s an interesting topic, and I’ve got time now that, you know, I don’t need to go save the world anymore’

They stayed for lunch and left soon after, carrying six volumes on portals in a bag, including the First Ones books. Glimmer came back and took them back to the palace.

*** 

Mermista and Sea Hawk came to visit for dinner. As soon as they left along with Hordak who wanted to see Salineas and a new boat (because Sea Hawk set the one they came on on fire), Adora pulled Catra upstairs.

‘Okay, spill. Why are you so interested in portals?’ 

‘Well, I was thinking. You never saw Queen Angella die, did you? She just got trapped in the portal. She might not have actually died…’

‘Catra, even if she didn’t get killed by the portal, there’s no food or water there’, said Adora gently, ‘it’s been a while since she was ’

Catra nodded and took a deep breath. ‘I know. I did think of that. But time works differently in portals, doesn’t it? Normal rules don’t work properly, Entrapta said. So if there’s even a chance, a tiny chance Angella’s alive…’ she paused. ‘I just think we should look at those books, just in case’.

Adora gave her an unreadable glance and nodded. ‘Okay, but let’s get Entrapta up here too. I may be able to read First One script, but doesn’t mean I actually understand it.’

***

Several hours later, at two in the morning, Entrapta, Catra, Adora and Scorpia (who was helping Entrapta take apart some tech and wanted to come along) had exhausted themselves researching portals. Scorpia had taken notes in a messy but readable scrawl. They’d learnt that there were two main types of portals. There was the kind that Hordak had built - a Type I portal - which was capable of moving dimensions and changing reality. It needed a key - She-ra’s sword, for example. It created a pocket in space and time. That acted like a passageway where dimensions like Despondos could move through. This was where Queen Angella was trapped, unable to get through as the portal was closed on both sides and the key had been removed. The portal had no concept of space or time, though. To people, it looked like an infinitely large space, with no gravity. 

What made Catra hopeful was that, according to the First Ones books, time didn’t move forward so anyone who entered the portal would be in the same state a thousand years later, except they wouldn’t know it had been a thousand years. 

‘So there’s a chance she’s alive!’ cheered Scorpia enthusiastically, beaming, exhaustion leaving her. ‘How are we going to rescue her?’

‘Creating another of these portals would do nothing because it would be a different portal and would probably destroy everything but it would be so fun to make!’ Entrapta cut in with a slightly dreamy look. 

‘Yeah, ‘Trapta, we don’t really want to do that’ said Catra sardonically.

‘What about the other type of portal?’ asked Adora thoughtfully.

They glanced at the last book, which had an illustration of a portal that was different to the one on the book they’d just read. Adora picked it up and, taking a deep breath, started reading. Scorpia carried on scribbling. Powered by determination and tiny pastries Adora had swiped from the kitchens, they carried on.

The second portal, Type II, was more like a window than a passageway. It could rip a hole from one dimension or Type I portal to another, but didn’t allow large objects like planets to move through. A smaller object, though, would be fine. A person, for example. 

The portal could be created by a magical being with a portal key. The First Ones book had an outdated illustration of She-ra (riding a pink dragon, which they all laughed rather hysterically at). According to the caption, she needed to channel the sword’s power using a gadget. The portal would be open for as long as She-ra could hold it.

‘I can make that’, said Entrapta, indicating a drawing of the gadget. She picked it up and peered at it while whipping out her recording device with her hair. ‘Day, or should I say night, one of trying to open a Type II portal - this gadget is amazing! It combines First Ones tech and magic! This is going to be great!’

***

Two days later, they were ready to go. ‘According to the book, we need to be within a mile radius of where the Type I portal is’ reported Adora. Normally, Glimmer would teleport them if she wasn’t too busy, but they’d decided not to tell either Glimmer or King Micah about the attempted rescue - just in case it went wrong and the queen was actually gone.

Instead, they travelled by foot to the edge of the Fright Zone, now completely destroyed. Bow came too after he walked in on Entrapta making the gadget and they informed him of the mission. Adora, Scorpia and Catra had spent most of their lives in the Fright Zone and it held mostly bad memories for them. The only good times for Catra had been when she and Adora were cadets and they’d spent nights together whispering and laughing quietly. They’d talk about what they’d do when they ruled the world together and what they thought lay beyond the Fright Zone and tell stories about imaginary conquests over evil princesses. She remembered particularly one kind Horde member teaching the junior cadets how to fold paper into little boats and planes. For years, her nicest memory had been eleven-year-old Adora, face scrunched up in concentration, carefully folding a napkin into a boat shape, surrounded by a dozen other sloppy attempts that progressively improved. Adora had gifted that one to Catra. It was probably still in her locker…

‘It’ll take me half an hour to set this up.’ Entrapta’s voice cut into her memories. Catra flicked her tail and nodded. ‘I’m - just going to look around’ she said, turning.

She didn’t know where the locker room was now and if it would even be intact, since she’d destroyed a lot of the Fright Zone when she’d fought with Hordak. Nevertheless, she headed towards where it had been, accompanied by Melog.

‘Catra, wait!’

She looked over her shoulder to see Adora hurrying towards her. 

‘What are you doing?’ she called to Catra.

‘I just wanted to see something in the locker room’

Adora nodded and fell in step next to Catra. They walked in silence for a few moments.

‘I missed you, you know. So much.’

Catra opened her mouth to tease her and closed it again. ‘I know. Me too’, she murmured. 

‘Bet I can beat you to that pole’, she shouted, taking off immediately with Melog bounding beside her. Hearing Adora’s laughter behind her, just like so many times before, made even being in the Fright Zone feel like home. Anywhere was home if Adora was next to her.

They reached the locker room after squeezing through piles of rubble. It was half destroyed but the locker unit itself was pretty much unharmed, despite being half buried under the ruins of the room above it. 

Catra carefully pulled open the door to the locker that had been hers. Next to her, she saw her girlfriend doing the same with the neighbouring locker.

Her locker was pretty much empty. When she’d been promoted to Hordak’s second-in-command, she’d swept out all the old clothes hurriedly and moved them to her new, larger room. In the Horde, there wasn’t much time for valued or sentimental possessions. Catra came and left the Horde with nothing that was truly hers - even the clothes had been issued by Shadow Weaver. Now, she had her own clothes that she’d picked out on Glimmer’s mandatory shopping trips (Catra always complained, but everyone knew she secretly enjoyed them). She had other things too that had been presents from Adora and the other princesses. Adora had had a single pin, something she’d always had. She always wore it; the only reminder of her life in the Horde.

At the back of the locker, Catra found what she was looking for - a small, messy paper boat folded from a napkin. She retrieved it and put it in her pocket, before scanning the locker for anything else of interest. There was nothing apart from a Horde-issue water bottle and a couple of brown ration bars, now slightly mouldy. 

Closing the locker, she peered inside Adora’s. She still had clothes in there, having left suddenly. Catra also saw a picture of the two of them, taken from when they snuck into Shadow Weaver’s office for fun and found a polaroid camera.

Adora pulled the photo out and closed the locker. She smiled at Catra. 

‘What did you want?’

Wordlessly, Catra held up the paper plane. Adora’s eyes widened. 

‘You remember that?’ 

‘Of course I did. Not taking your clothes?’

Adora shook her head. ‘No, I think they can stay here’

They stood together one last time in the room where they’d spent so much time. Then Adora reached for Catra’s hand.

‘Come on. They’ll be waiting for us’

They headed back to where Entrapta, Bow and Scorpia were waiting, with a large white machine set up. They didn’t say anything about their disappearance.

Entrapta started recording. ‘This is going to be amazing! Okay, Adora, you need to transform into She-Ra and go inside that cubicle. Then insert your sword into the blue slot on the side when I say - that’ll push it into the portal. Then you need to focus on channeling your magic into the sword. That should create a hole. If you break concentration, the hole will start to close up and Angella will be trapped.’

Adora paled but nodded. ‘For the honour of Greyskull!’ 

They watched as She-Ra stepped into the machine. Entrapta had given the door a glass front, so they could watch Adora making the portal. 

Chattering into her recorder, Entrapta flicked a few buttons and pulled a lever. Glowing blue lights flicked on inside the machine. She stepped back and gave She-Ra a thumbs up sign.

Adora nodded briefly and Catra watched in tense silence as her girlfriend pushed the sword into a blue hole on the side. The sword should have come out from the other side, outside the cubicle, but it disappeared entirely.

When it was all the way in, the box went dark again and was illuminated only by the light of She-Ra’s glowing eyes. Then sparks like lightning flew out of the sword. Brighter and brighter, it blinded the onlookers. Catra tried to keep watching but the light was too intense. It enveloped Adora like a cocoon. Forced to shield her eyes like the other three, Catra could only hear the pants and grunts coming from inside the machine.

Then suddenly, after a few painful minutes, the light extinguished like a snuffed out candle. Catra immediately opened her eyes to see Adora, no longer in She-Ra’s form, slumped against the wall of the cubicle, clutching her sword. And on top of her…

‘Queen Angella!’ shouted Bow, wrenching open the door. Adora blearily blinked open her eyes. ‘She’s out cold, I think’, she mumbled, then flopped over. Catra hurried to catch her while Scorpia pulled out the queen. 

‘You did it’, Catra whispered to Adora. Adora smiled, eyes still shut. ‘She’s back. Glimmer and King Micah will be so happy’

‘Uh, guys? She is alive, right?’ asked Bow with trepidation.

‘Yup, subject is breathing and seems to be healthy. Heart rate is a little lower than usual. Subject will need to rest for approximately two to three weeks. She should regain consciousness any minute now’

Sure enough, Angella opened her eyes and coughed. ‘Where am I?’ she croaked hoarsely. She lifted her head a little and looked around. ‘Bow?’ she said disbelievingly. ‘Adora? What happened? Is everyone okay? Is Glimmer-’ she broke off coughing. 

‘Everything’s fine, Your Majesty’ replied Bow. ‘We’ll explain everything when we get back, but right now you and Adora need rest. We have to get back to the palace.’

***

Entrapta managed to send a message via Emily (who was still in the palace) to Glimmer, who came to pick them up. When they returned to the palace, everyone gave the family some space to reunite. For once, Catra didn’t say anything snarky when Glimmer came out with tears streaming down her face and hugged her tightly.

There were some downsides; now that Glimmer was the sole user of the Moonstone, Angella had lost all her powers, although she could still fly. Because of this, it was decided that Glimmer would carry on being the queen. ‘She’s doing a really good job, too’, said King Micah when they told everyone. 

For the next few days, Angella was confined to her room but constantly visited by Glimmer, King Micah or the other princesses and citizens of Bright Moon. Catra stayed on the sidelines, only going to visit with Adora and others.

One week later, however, she decided to do what she’d been meaning to do since Angella came back. After breakfast, while the other princesses were helping Scorpia plan her renovations on the Fright Zone (now the Scorpion Kingdom), she slipped upstairs with a bunch of purple hyacinths.

Angella’s room was empty. The lights were dimmed and the old queen seemed to be asleep. Catra sighed, half relieved and half frustrated. She placed the hyacinths in an empty vase and turned to go.

‘Catra?’

Taking a deep breath, Catra turned around, feeling unusually nervous.

Angella smiled up at her. ‘Glimmer told me about you. How you saved the Rebellion, and me’

Catra grinned ruefully. ‘Figured it was the least I could do, given the fact that I kind of started everything in the first place. I came up here to apologise - for everything. And-’

‘I forgive you’

Catra let out a relieved breath. Although the rest of the Rebellion had been nothing but kind to her, she’d been really worried that Angella wouldn’t forgive her. And it meant a lot to her - Angella was the one that she’d hurt the most; she’d almost killed her.

Through the darkness, she could see Angella smiling at her. ‘You didn’t give up on me, Catra. Look, I know how hard it can be to forgive yourself when you didn’t do the right thing. But just remember, you’re a different person now.’

Catra smiled, feeling some of the tension leave her. 

‘Adora was so similar, you know, when she first came. It took her a while to learn to relax. I blame it on Shadow Weaver. You both grew up with a proper parent figure. I think of Adora as a daughter now. That means you are too.’

Feeling a lump in her throat, Catra nodded. ‘Thank you. That means a lot.’

***

Two months later, Queen Angella and King Micah moved into a large, sprawling bungalow on the edge of the Whispering Woods. All the princesses (including Bow, Swift Wind and Sea Hawk, of course) went with them and spent an evening in the new home.

They were eating dinner (made by Angella and Glimmer) outside in the garden. Feeling thirsty, Catra went into the kitchen, separated from the garden by a large glass wall. She watched as the others laughed at something together, feeling warmth in her chest.

A hand tucked around her waist. ‘Alright?’ asked Adora, smiling at her like she understood everything. 

‘Yeah’, Catra replied softly.

She pulled out a small paper boat from her pocket and gazed out at her new found family, laughing and eating together.

‘Never better’ she added.


End file.
